Improvement in gathered hems



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Gathered Hams. No, 126,138, Patented Aprl30,l872.

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HENRY ELUS.

Gathered Hems.

Nol 126,138, Patented Apr!30,1872.

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STAES HENRY A. ELLIS, or cHIooPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR ToWILLIAM BROWN, or SAME rLAcE.

IMPROVEMENT IN GATHERED HEN'IS.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 126,138, dated April30, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. ELLIS, of Chicopee Falls, in the county ofHampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a Gathered Hem; and Ido hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompar nying drawingmaking part of this specification, in which- Figure l, Plate l, shows acircular gathered hem. Fig. 2, Plate l, is a sectional view of agathered hem. Fig. 3, Plate 2, is a perspective view of a Sewing-machineattachment which will produce a gathered hem on circular or straightmaterial.

The object of this invention is to produce gathered hems on straight orcircular material, so that the work will, when pressed, present a smoothand neat appearance, and at the same time be more durable than hemswhich are formed by plaiting the material as hitherto practiced.

The following is a description of my new manufacture, and also onepractical form of device which will produce it.

In the accompanying drawing I have represented a hem, A', which is of acircular form, for ladies skirts, and which is produced by gathering inthe folded edge, as indicated at a. By reference to Fig. 2 it will beseen that some of the gathers are more elevated than others, or, inother words, more cloth is taken up for some of the gathers than forothers; also, that at one point the hem is not gathered at all. This Ido by means of an attachment to a sewing-machine, without stopping themachine to adjust the feed of the gathering device, and withoutpreviously preparing the work by basting or otherwise.

On Plate 2, Fig. 3, I have represented a device, by means of which thework hereinabove described can be readily executed. This device formsthe subject of an application for Letters Patent tiled by me on the 11thday of March, 1872, and is not claimed under this application.

A represents a narrow strip of metal,which is slotted at a, andconstructed with a guide, N, on one end. On this guide an anti-frictionwheel, b2, may be applied. Between b2 and b the edge of the guide N iscurved out, as at b1, to allow a slackness of the folded hem in linewith th'e turning device G. B is a block,

which is adjustable by loosening the binding nut c for hems of differentwidths. C is a standard, which is secured to the front edge of theadjustable block B, and to which an arm, C, is pivoted, so as to swingforward and backward. D is an extension of arm D,which receives throughits end a screw, e, on which a nut, e', is applied. The screw e risesfrom the foot B3, and around it is coiled a spring, E. B1

is a standard, which is bored out and providedv with a set-screw, t, forattaching the device to a sewing-machine. The armD and its extensionreceives vibration from the needle-bar of the sewing-machine, andcommunicates a forward and backward motion to the turner G, which isapplied to block B byl means of a dovetail tenon, s, fitted into a slotin said block. To the turner G two gripin g jaws or nippers, g g, areapplied, between which the material passes on its way to the needle,which latter plays through notch j' through the foot B3. .The strokes ofthe turner G and its nippers are lengthened or shortened by adjustingthe nut c on screw-rod c. rPhe griping ends of the nippers presentsmooth edges, which will a1- low the folded edge of the cloth to be heldback when desired, and the nippers to slip over it when making forwardstrokes.

When the device I have above described is applied to a sewingmachine,the material to entirely automatically, or its operation can becontrolled at will. y

What is meant by a gathered straight hem referred to in the abovedescription7 is where the material is cut straight and the raw edge isstretched, more or less, so that the folded edge is longer than the bodyof thc Work. I gather in this stretched edge precisely as I gather theedge ofthe circular or gored Work, so that when thc straight hem iscompleted and pressed down the folded edge thereof will lie smooth.

Without confining myself to the device for gathering and hemming hereindescribed, I claim- As a new article of manufacture, the gathered andhemmed Work herein described.

HENRY A. ELLIS.

Witnesses:

J. N. CAMPBELL, J AMES MARTIN, Jr.

